Self-locking seal.



W. M. BROOKS.

SELF LOOKING SEAL. APPLICATION FILED DEC- 18, 1914.

Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET W. M. BROOKS. SELF LOCKWG SEAL. APPLICATION FILED DEC.18. 1914.

1, 1 37,1 83.. Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

the State of New TATE ATENT @FFTQE.

WINFRED MUDGE BROOKS, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO E. J.

BROOKS & 00., or NEW YORK, n. Y.,

A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

. SELF-LOCKING SEAL,

/ Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 18, 1914. Serial N 0. 877,984.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WINFRED MUDGE BROOKS, a citizen of the United .States of America, and a resident of East Orange, in Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Self-Locking Seals, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to metallic seals for securing the doors of railway freight cars andwarehouses, so as to prevent pilfering Without detection, and for other analogous purposes asfor securely attaching license tags and likev identification devices so as to prevent tampering therewith.

It relatesmore particularly to self-fastening or self-locking seals, which dispense with the use of seal presses, and to sealing shackles made from wire.

. The present invention consists in a selflocking seal of a new type, and certain novel functional features thereof as hereinafter particularly described and claimed.

The leading object of the invention is the production of a secure self-locking seal from wire.

Other objects will be set forth in the general description which follows.

Two sheets of drawings accompany this specification as part thereof.

. Figure l is a face view of one of my said seals as it leaves the factory and as suspended preliminarily in serially numbered bunches from a stringing wire; Fig. 2 represents a section on the line A-B, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a face view of the same seal ap lied to car-door staples, and self-locked; Fig. 4: represents a section on the line C-D, Fig. 3; Figs. 5, '6 and 7 are face views of additional species of the same invention as they leave the factory and as carried by a sealer; Fig. 8 is a face view of another of the improved seals as it leaves the factory, provided with an inseparable tag of embossed sheet metal; Fig. 9 represents a cross section on the line EF, Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a fragmentary face view of a modified seal and tag; and Figs. 11 and 12 are fragmentary perspective views illustrating the production of the improved seal from square or triangular wire.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in all the figures.

The improved self-locking seal, in any of its forms or species, has a pair of interlockdepth, and so that the most ing portions 1 and 2 adjoining the respective ends of a main loop portion 3, and is self-locked by wrapping said portion 1 tightly around said portion 2, a single coil "as shown at a in Figs. 3 and 4 being sufficient; forming such locking coil a is rendered easy, opening the same without breaking the Wire is prevented, and the detection of any tampering with the seal is insured by means of transverse grooves or notches 4 in that side of said portion 1 which becomes innermost in said coil a; and the endwise Withdrawal of said portion 2 from within said coil a is prevented by a stop portion 5 or 5 or 5 or 5 or, 5 of the same piece of wire.

The piece of wire may be cut from a continuous length of ordinary iron or brass or copper wire of suitable gage, round in cross section as represented in Figs. 1 to 10 in elusive, square as represented by Fig. 11 or triangular as represented by Fig. 12. Ordinary round iron wire annealed soft answers every purpose.

The notches 4 are intended to be cut in a suitable machine so as to be of uniform the displaced metal elongates the wire. The back of the portion 1 is thus stretched and rendered harder but, bending at all the notches simultaneously for part in the locking operation, it readily yields sufficiently for that movement without liability to break. The tendency of any unlocking movement is to bend the metal of the hardened back of the wire at the outermost notch, then at the second and so on; and the metal invariably breaks at one of the first notches, before unlocking can be effected.

In the several species represented by Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, Fig. 5, Fig. 6 and Fig. 7, the improved seal is further provided with a flattened number-bearing portion 6 in continuation of said portion 1, so as to be conveniently numbered in series as represented by 222 222 222 223 and 222 224 in Figs. 1, 5, 6 and 7, respectively. It is customary to temporarily string seals so numbered on looped wires in bunches of one hundred consecutively numbered seals. A looped wire for that purpose is represented in dotted lines at 7 in Fig. 1.

In the species represented by Figs. 1 to 4 tion 5 is in the form of a coilsimilar to said aforesaid notches 4. Said coil-shaped withdrawal preventing portion 5 serves also as means for temporarily stringing such seals on said wire 7.

Distinct from the withdrawal preventing portion, 5, in this species, the improved seal is further constructed with a flattened markbearing portion, 8, the specific mark R. R. representing the initials stamped in the metal.

In the speciesrepresented by Fig. 5, the aforesaid withdrawal preventing portion 5 is flattened like said portion 8 andprovided with a like stamped mark R, R, and provision is made for stringing the seal by a loop-forming coil 9 interposed between the notched portion 1 and the number-bearing portion 6. Said coil 9, so arranged serves also'to form :an effective thumb rest for use in forming the locking coil (a,Fig. 4) by wrapping'the notched portion 1 around the interlocking portion 2 of the seal.

In the-species represented by Fig. 6, the aforesaid withdrawal preventing device 5 is also a flattened portion provided with a like stamped mark R R, and is provided with a hole 10 for use in stringing the seal on the wire 7 l In the species represented by Fig. 7, the improved seal, generically considered, is provided with a coating of suitable paint or the like to give color, represented by horizontal shade lines at 11. This provision may be in addition to said marks represented by R R or as a substitute for such marks or eitl er of-them.- In applying such coloring the seals are dipped into liquid paint or the like and dried as'the facture.

The metal may if desired be bright cleaned or, if iron, coppered so that the color will show up better as the distinguishinig mark of the seal. Fig. 7 also illustrates the omission of separate means forstringing'the seal on said wire 7 the main loop 3 beingavailable for this purpose, but less secure against the accidental escape of seals from the stringing wire than is desirable;

In the species represented by Figs. 8 and 9, the improved seal, generically considered, is provided with a sheet-metal tag 12 on an extension 1 of the body wire of the seal, between swaged stop portions 13, '14: to carry more distinct embossed serial num ers, represented by 1002 in the figure. Such tag may conveniently be stamped with any other required marks, represented by XXXNY and License in the figure; andthe withof a railroad 2, Fig.

it any, desired characteristic 1 222 224: and

last stages of manw drawal preventing portion 5 may be blank and of any convenient form. A flattened extremity similar in this respect to said-portions 5, '5 and 5 is represented. The tag 12 is attached by rounded ends 15, Fig. 9, apertu'redand bent at right angles.

In the modification represented by Fig. 10, the apertured ends 15 ofan otherwise similar sheet-metal tag 12 are flattened and engage with flattened stop portions 13 as to keep the tag from turning on the extension 1 of the body wire of the seal, supposing the latter to be round in cross section.

With the square wire, Fig. 11, or triangular wire, Fig. 12, apertures fitted to the would obviously suffice in such tags 12, 12'; and other like modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled inthe art.

The improved seal in any of the species leaves the factory sealer in the form represented by Figs. 1 and 5, Fig. 6, Fig, 7 and Fig. 8', respectively, and, after passing either end through a pair of. car-door staples 16, 17, Fig. 3, or

the notched locking portion 1 is go facilitated, and tampering with the seal istmo detected by means of the notches 4 in the manner above described.

Having thus described said improvement, I claim as my invention, and desire to patent under this specification:

1. A self-locking seal having two interlocking portions one of which is adapted to be wrapped around the other to form a lockin coil, means for insuring the fracture of said coil by a reverse movement thereof, a 110 loop the ends of which inseparably adjoin said interlocking portions respectively and means for preventing the withdrawal of the innermost of said interlocking portions.

2. A self-locking seal having two inter- -11F locking portions one of which is adapted to be wrapped around the other to form a locking coil, means for insuring the fracture of sald 0011 by a reverse movement thereof,

a loopthe ends of which inseparably adjoin 1 20 said interlocking portions-respectively, and a coil-shaped withdrawal preventing portion inseparably adjoining the outer end of the innermost of said interlocking portions.

35A self-locking seal having two inter 125 locking portions one of which is adapted to be wrapped around the other to form a look mg 0011, means for insuring the fracture of said locking coil by a reverse movement thereof, a loop the ends of which insepara- 14 so- 5 h wire '39- and is carried by the 35 It will be understood that in all the bly adjoin said interlocking portions respectively, and a coil-shaped withdrawal preventing portion inseparably adjoining the outer end of the innermost of said interlocking portions and means for insuring the fracture of said withdrawal preventing coil by a reverse movement thereof.

4. A self-locking seal having two interlocking portions one of which is adapted to be wrapped around the other to form a looking coil, means for insuring the fracture of said locking-coil by a reverse movement thereof, a loop the ends of which inseparably adjoin the said interlocking portions respectively and a coil-shaped withdrawal preventing portion adjoining the outer end of the innermost of said interlocking portions and 'provided with internal notches adapted to insure its fracture by an attempt to uncoil it.

5. self-locking seal having two interlocking portions one of which is adapted to be wrapped around the other to form a locking coil, a loop the ends of which inseparably adjoin said interlocking parts respec tively, a Withdrawal preventing coil near the extremity of the innermost of said interlocking portions and transverse weakening notches on the inner sides of each of said locking and withdrawal preventing coils adapted to-assure the fracture of said coils by a reverse movement thereof, the metal at the outer side of said coils being hardened and made brittle. 5

6. A self-locking seal having two interlockin ortions one of which is adapted to be coiFed around the other to lock the seal, notches on the inner side of the locking coil so formed, adapted to prevent uncoiling without fracture of said coil, a loop the ends of. which inseparably adjoin said interlocking portions and a withdrawal preventing portion inseparably adjoining one end of the innermost of said interlocking portions.

'7. A self-locking seal having two interlocking portions one of which is adapted to be coiled around the other to lock the seal, notches on the inner side of the locking coil so formed, adapted to prevent uncoiling without fracture of said coil, a loop the ends of which inseparably adjoin said interlocking portions and a coil shaped withdrawal preventing portion adjoining one end of the inner of said interlocking portions.

8. A self-locking seal having two interlocking portions one of which is adapted to be coiled around the other to lock the seal, notches on the inner side of the locking coil so formed, adapted to prevent uncoiling without fracture of said coil, a loop the ends of which inseparably adjoin said interlocking portions and a coil shaped withdrawal preventing coil similarly notched on its inner side integral with the innermost of said interlocking portions.

WINFRED MUDGE BROOKS.

ii/itnesses:

CHARLES (J. Lumen, RossLYN JAMOUNEAU. 

